Austin Food Blogger Alliance Cookbook release date, pre-sale campaign

We have so much exciting news to share about the Austin Food Blogger Alliance Cookbook!

First, we’re so proud to announce that the History Press will be publishing our cookbook in April as part of its American Palate series, which will include a number of food books from Austin authors (including some AFBA members!). After many months of pulling together recipes, stories, photos and vignettes, hosting a one-for-one recipe testing exchange for a cookbook potluck last fall and editing and indexing late into the night, we have submitted the manuscript to the History Press, which has set a release date of mid April. A special thanks to our cookbook sponsor, the Austin-based Cooking Planit, for its financial support of the project.

The second piece of news is that we are hosting a cookbook pre-sale campaign, which will allow us to raise seed money to buy a bulk quantity of books to sell directly to members and our AFBA supporters. We launched the pre-sale campaign at a rockin’ party last night at Olive and June, where chef Shawn Cirkiel prepared a number of appetizers, as well as two recipes that will appear in the cookbook: an Italian grapefruit cocktail from Apron Adventures and thyme and cheese corn muffins from Dinner with Rachel. Thanks to the more than 170 of you who RSVP’d and made the pre-sale kickoff event such a success!

During the pre-sale campaign, books cost $25 each, plus tax, and we’re offering a sizable discount on each book if you buy at least five. We will be hosting pick-up events around the time of the book’s official launch, but we also will be shipping books to people who can’t make it to one of those events.

So, what will we do with the proceeds from the book sales? Like countless community cookbook projects before us, our cookbook will support the AFBA’s mission, which is to educate our members on how to be better bloggers, give them an opportunity to network with one another and create opportunities to raise money and awareness for other nonprofits in Austin. (We’ve raised more than $5,000 for local nonprofits, including SafePlace and Bake A Wish, in the past two years, and with the cookbook proceeds, we’ll be able to host even more of these kinds of events.)

Eventually, we’d like to add a scholarship program that gives budding food writers, photographers, bloggers and even aspiring chefs the opportunity to kickstart their careers.

You’ll be hearing lots more about the cookbook in coming months, including book signings, the launch party and how new members can submit recipes for what we hope will be the second edition of the book, but if you’d like to contribute to the project and buy a book early, you can find the link to order on the homepage at AustinFoodBloggers.org. (We’ll also have Square readers to accept pre-sale orders at our upcoming AFBA events, including a new member mixer on Feb. 9 and an education event later that month.)

I am interested in buying 5 copies, cause I love a discount! However, I would like to know a little more about the book if possible. As a brand new member, I know nothing. Aproximate pages/recipes? All types/categories? Are they all from local Austin food bloggers?

Hello, Leah! Thanks so much for your interest in the group and the book. The dishes cover everything from appetizers to desserts, and they aren’t just what you think of as “Texas” recipes. I asked members to submit recipes that meant something to them, so they often reflect their home states (or countries) or dishes that their parents taught them. Salsas, salads, tacos, cocktails, condiments, gumbo, chowder, veggie burgers, stuffed quails, ribs, rancher’s pie, cakes, muffins, biscuits, cookies, frozen pops. We have 100 recipes in all, as well as essays about Texas wine, the cocktail and craft beer revival and Austin as a mecca of sorts for vegans, local food lovers and grocery store geeks. I hope this gives you a better idea of what will be in the book! Here are some previous posts (https://austinfoodbloggers.org/category/cookbook/) we’ve written about the project to give you a sense of how it has come together and what kind of dishes we requested from members. We do hope to do a volume II, and I hope you’ll be interested in contributing something to it!